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Monday, December 12, 2011

Enga takes on rural approach to fight HIV

Source: The National, Monday 12th December 2011

By YVONNE HAIPTHE fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in Enga is gaining momentum because barriers are being loosened as people at the community level take up the battle.Provincial HIV/AIDS response programme coordinator Ben Nema said they werenow going rural in line withthe government’s “go rural” policy.He said they were nowcommitted to driving the res­ponse programmes to the rural community to target the province’s 80% of people living there.Nema said while resource mobilisation, logistical support, manpower capacity-building, and leadership support were necessary, the fight against HIV/AIDS was improving.So far, Wabag MP Sam Abal has committed K50,000 to the district AIDS committee to help its rural drive, while Governor Peter Ipatas gave K100,000.He said they had established district AIDS committees in Wabag, Kompiam, Laiagam, Kandep and Porgera.He said there were 162 rural-based HIV/AIDS groups and stakeholders in Kompiam, Ambum, Yangis, Wapenamanda, Tsak, Wabag, Maramuni, Laiagam, Pilikambi, Kandep, Wage and Porgera.He said the fight to cut the spread of the epidemic was improving and with the ongoing support of the National AIDS Council, they would achieve their targets.He said while it was a tough road ahead, support from leaders at the provincial level was a bonus that would ensure that the fight continued.He said the “go rural”drive was the way forward because it was targeting the people at the communitylevel where the majority lived and that was what mattered the most.

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